The New York Times’ David Sanger had an interesting observation in a recent article on Vladimir Putin’s bizarre foreign policy. Russia, Sanger wrote, is a “declining economy with the gross domestic product of Italy.” So how come it manages to push around the United States, which has the world’s bigg
New York-Portugal’s former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is poised to become the successor of South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon in leading the United Nations following a decisive vote by the Security Council on Wednesday. But the council will undertake a formal vote on Thursday to confirm the choice
Beirut-The 16th edition of Beirut International Film Festival (BIFF) has kicked off with 76 movies including 36 short films and signatures of international directors. The festival has opened its show with “The Girl on the Train”, a movie for U.S. Director Tate Tailor and starred by British Actress E
Google’s self-driving vehicles are mastering complex situations on public roads, from cars going the wrong way to bicycles darting in front of traffic, as the technology company strives to win the high-profile race to achieve full vehicle automation, executives said on Wednesday. The Alphabet
All members of Kenya’s election commission have resigned, the government said on Wednesday, after months of protests by the opposition which accused the body of bias that made it unfit to oversee elections due next August. The total number of commissioners who quit is 10. The quits at the Inde
France’s Foreign Minister will be travelling to Russia and the United States on Thursday and Friday, hoping to persuade both sides to adopt a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose a ceasefire in Syria. More so, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
Cairo- AbdulMagid AbdulSalam Breish, Chairman and CEO of the Libyan Investment Authority in Tripoli, revealed to Asharq al-Awsat that several meetings were held with Tobruk LIA Chairman Fawzi Omran Farkash in the past few weeks. According to Breish, these discussions represent an integral part of th
Fez – Hamid Chabat, Secretary General of Istiqlal Party, described the current polarity between the opposing party Authenticity and Modernity and Justice and Development as fake and imposed. Chabat presented his party as the alternative of both parties. Chabat, Former mayor of Fez, said that he is q
London- Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post’s former bureau chief in Tehran who was imprisoned in Iran for 544 days, filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the Iranian government, accusing it of hostage-taking, torture and terrorism. Rezaian was held hostage during the nuclear negotiations, which spu
A delegation from the world’s only permanent war crimes court is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories for five days this week for an outreach trip aimed at promoting “better understanding” about its work, the chief prosecutor said Wednesday. The trip from Wednesday until Octob
London- Iran-based conservative media outlet Fars news agency published a heated essay lashing out against a recently book titled: “Rijal al Qaeda fi Iran” (translating to: Al Qaeda Men in Iran) released by Asharq Al-Awsat. The ultra-conservative media outlet said should the publication be subject t
Riyadh-Yemeni Human Rights Minister Izzedine al-Asbahi said that reports of international non-governmental organizations and inaccurate news in Western media have led to political pressure on Western missions at the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) with regards to the condition of human r
Ahmed Musa has been smiling at a couple of old photos showing the friends he grew up playing street football with back in Nigeria, together with a newspaper article flagging up his potential when he was a child. The third picture handed to him is much more recent, however, and, rather curiously, sho
Baghdad – Iraqi parliament unanimously refused the Turkish parliament decision to extend the mandate of Turkish troops in Iraq and called for a review of relations with Turkey. The parliament also rejected recent statement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Ankara’s willingness to
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban to follow the recent example of militant commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and make an “honorable” peace with the Kabul government. Kerry told an international conference in Brussels that a peace deal signed la
This plantation-style canalfront house is in the gated development of Old Fort Bay, on the northwest coast of New Providence, the Bahamas’ most populous island. The four-bedroom four-and-a-half-bath, 6,700-square-foot house has a pool and a 1,700-square-foot two-story guest cottage with one bedroom
London-After weeks in the headlines the notorious Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) maybe nose-diving like a punctured balloon with even its makers no longer sure of its wisdom. There are at least three big problems with JASTA. The first is that it seeks to undermine one of the cardi
Jeddah- The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) — Saudi Arabia’s central bank — reported an eight percent increase in gross loans approved by banks financing non-profitable government institutions and the private sector during August. August figures amounted to a dashing SAR1,485.2 billion ($396 bi
Vienna- Prince Sultan bin Salman, the president of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), told Asharq al-Awsat on the sidelines of the 29th edition of Association of Space Explorers (ASE) conference that Saudi Arabia has become a pioneer in the field of space launching. Speaking
ANTWERP, BELGIUM — For architects, or at least for Zaha Hadid, there is an afterlife. On Sept. 22, nearly six months after this British architect’s sudden death at 65, one of her boldest buildings, Port House, opened in a ceremony on the newly christened Zaha Hadid Square in Antwerp. Under the soari
